ShelterBox Press Release
18 January 2010
ShelterBox team on the ground: ‘There is no more Haiti’
The ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) members Dave Eby (US), Wayne Robinson (US) and Mark Pearson (UK) are on the ground in Port au Prince, Haiti, after arriving in the island’s capital on Thursday, January 14.
Speaking from Port au Prince, David Eby said: ‘We’re working hard to resolve security, logistics and communications. The city is totally devastated. Our host told us, “There is no more Haiti.”’
The situation on the ground remains fraught with the damaged infrastructure in Haiti hampering the aid effort, and security issues adding further complexity.
The ShelterBox Logistics team, made up of Strategic Response Team members Mark Dyer (US), John Lacquey (US) and Ian Neal (UK), are in place in Miami and will and run the logistics into Haiti from there.
ShelterBox’s Head of Operations John Leach said: ‘We spoke with our team in Haiti this morning and already they’ve been working with other aid agencies and the government to assess where ShelterBoxes are most needed. ‘Our priority is now getting logistics in and doing all we can to get it on the island.”
ShelterBox’s Logistics Manager Richard Lewis added: ‘We’re doing everything we can to make sure emergency aid reaches the people of Haiti. The situation is changing by the minute and we’re exploring every single avenue available to us in order to make sure the aid gets on the ground as quickly as possible.’
1,700 boxes have already been despatched, including pre-positioned boxes out of Curacao, which were due to arrive in Haiti on Saturday. A further 1,600 boxes will depart this week from the UK.
Each ShelterBox contains a tent that can offer shelter to 10 people along with thermal groundsheets and blankets and the essentials to enable self sufficiency. http://shelterbox.org/about.php?page=9
Boxes are being delivered into Haiti via either Port au Prince or the Dominican Republic.
Mark Pearson, who was one of the first on the ground after the Indian Ocean Tsunami, said: ‘This is worse than the tsunami. It’s utter chaos at the airport. Buildings have been completely destroyed, the hospital has been destroyed. It’s a full scale emergency, there’s so much destruction.
‘The priority at the moment is search and rescue and then after that emergency shelter provision, so obviously there’s frustration. There’s no fuel and people are hunting for water. It’s difficult to put the scale of destruction into words.’
ShelterBox will be working with the lead relief agencies in Haiti to ensure that those in most need of aid get prioritised.
Virgin Atlantic is supporting the relief effort by flying hundreds of the ShelterBoxes on their planes.
Sir Richard Branson, President of Virgin Atlantic, said: ‘‘We will fly in as much aid as possible so that the agencies on the ground can respond to the needs of everyone in Haiti whose lives have been devastated by this tragedy.’
http://www.virgin.com/people-and-planet/news/virgin-atlantic-pledges-aid-to-haiti-following-earthquake
With the need in Haiti growing each day, there are millions of people in need of emergency shelter. ShelterBox Founder Tom Henderson, OBE, says support at this time is crucial.
‘The support we’ve seen in the last few days has been staggering,’ he said. ‘It’s all hands on deck for ShelterBox right across the globe. People in Haiti need our help and we stop until they get it. If you can help, in any way at all, I’d urge you to do so.’
The centre at Helston received £80,000 in donations on Thursday, 18th January alone and is seeing a huge increase in enquiries.
There has been extensive coverage of ShelterBox and the organization has been regularly featured on the iTV, Sky and Channel 4 main news,
Sky News: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/video/UK-Charities-Mobilise-To-Send-Emergency-Shelter-Boxes-To-Quake-Hit-Haiti/Video/201001215523011?lid=VIDEO_15523011_UKCharitiesMobiliseToSendEmergencyShelterBoxesToQuake-HitHaiti&lpos=searchresults
as well as on the BBC News website http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8462960.stm
Should we receive excess funds for our operational needs in Haiti your donation will contribute to resupplying essential stock and allowing ShelterBox to be prepared for disasters around the globe.